A Practical Guide to Statistical Quality Improvement: Opening Up the
Statistical Toolbox is designed as a reference guide for the engineer,
supervisor, and manager. The intent of the text is to present
conventional statistical quality improvement tools in a user-friendly
form. We have worked to take some of the "mystique" out of the
statistics and help others put these powerful tools to effective use in
a Total Quality Manage- Management (TQM) environment. This isn't a text
on TQM. TQM has three elements (as shown in Figure i.1): 1. Creating the
environment 2. The continuous improvement toolbox 3. Employee
empowerment This text focuses almost exclusively on the middle element,
the continuous improvement (CI) toolbox. Further, Opening Up the
Statistical Toolbox does not present a complete set of tools intended to
"fill" the CI toolbox; only the statistical tools and some of the basic
team process tools are covered. The CI toolbox, in reality, will never
get "filled". A comprehensive toolbox will include extensive team
process skills and technology specific tools complimentary to the
statistical tools included here. THE THREE KEY ELEMENTS OF TQM THE
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT TOOLBOX EMPLOYEE EMPOWERMENT FIGURE i.I.